Marketplace for Monday, May 19, 2008

Businesses have always put a lot of money and effort into political campaigns. A business lobbying group in Orlando, Fla., is going one step further. It's training local businesspeople to be politicians. Judith Smelser reports.

Millions of migrant workers from China's earthquake-ravaged Sichuan province who left home to work in cities to the east now must decide what to do. Should they return home to help or keep working and just send money? Scott Tong reports.

Millions of Zimbabwe residents have fled to South Africa to escape the turmoil in their country. But their influx has touched off brutal riots in Johannesburg. Reporter Gretchen Wilson is there and describes the scene.

The movie 'Speed Racer' was supposed to be a blockbuster. Warner Bros. put $250 million into making and marketing it. But so far it's earned less than $30 million at the box office. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports on the economics of a flop.

The Conference Board's report of 10 leading economic indicators is forecasting an economy that will show some minimal growth in the next several months. Meantime, a survey of economists is predicting anemic growth. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

Microsoft isn't taking No for an answer in its desire for at least a part of Yahoo. And Yahoo says it's willing to listen. So what could it be? Search? Advertising? Jeff Tyler reports on some of the possibilities.

A.G. Lafley heads Procter & Gamble, the biggest consumer products company in the world, earning $82 billion a year. But eight years ago, it was a different story when he took the top spot. He talks about making changes to struggling brands.

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